I got this video off Ebay and it arrived yesterday so I watched it last night. The teacher is Linda Driskell and she is talking with host Jean Farish Huls. This is part of a series of videos on needlearts. The instructor clearly knows what she is doing and moves at a pace fast enough that you don't fall asleep but not too fast to understand. The close-ups of the hand movement are clear. I like her suggestion to bring the left hand (or hand holding the ball thread) into a gentle fist when transferring the knot or making the flip. It releases the tension and gives you someplace to put those fingers. I've noticed saying to relax them doesn't really help. She starts off immediately with a simple ring edging, progresses into a ring and chain edging, and then a round motif of rings and chains. She shows how to wind a shuttle, including using a paddle-like shuttle winder, and gives lots of little tips along the way. One thing I learned that I hadn't heard before: in a ring only edging, when you close the ring and start the next ring, where do you begin the next ring so that it is far enough away to not pull the rings inward, yet not so far that you have little loops of bare thread hanging of all different lengths? She suggested pulling your shuttle thread to the right and then see where the picot on the last ring made ends on that line...then go a little more to the right and start your ring there. It worked well for me! So now I've got an extra video for beginners.


I was cleaning out some stuff in my bedroom last night when I found this piece of fabric in a bag. I bought it at a 2nd hand store - it's a yard long and 45" wide. I love the butterflys and I love the color combination. I'll have to make something really cool with this....and with only a yard, it'll be a challenge!

I bought a tiny lavender on cream print from Walmart to make some kitchen curtains. I started tatting the motif I'm going to insert in the valance part last night. The thread is also something vintage I picked up somewhere forgotten now but it's a size 60 Coats ecru. I love the way it is tatting up, so clean and crisp. Some threads make me feel like such a clumsy tatter, like I can't ever get my tension right. They are supposedly good threads but I'm beginning to think different. I also have some purple that matches nicely. I wasn't sure which color to use so I will make one of each color and then lay it on the fabric and see which feels best. I'd like to put a tatted edging on it too, but since this is an experiment, I don't think I'll invest the time in that for now. Besides, I don't have enough of either color for that and I think they are both discontinued or unavailable now.

Well...off to meet with my tatting newbies. We're doing a little crochet this evening too!